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Mini Plum Pies

I terribly hate food writers that are too lazy to make their own pie filling and use an artifical canned version instead. Nothing personal, but where has the fun of being a food writer gone then? I thought that the essential thing about baking was to enjoy working with seasonal ingredients, to slice your plums into fine pieces and tossing them around in a bowl with those crunchy bits of caster sugar krrrsssjjjjj-ing onto your spoon.Yes, that’s what I call pure paradise.

Since it’s plum season right now, I couldn’t pick a better moment to write this recipe. These mini plum pies are jam-packed with flavour: there’s the buttery flakiness from the pie crust, the sweetness from the plum filling (without being too sweet either) and finally, there’s the ice cold deliciousness from the vanilla ice cream. The last ingredient is completely optional, but hey, I know YOU deserved it. 😉

You’ll need (makes 6):

(for the flaky pie dough)

300g all purpose flour

40g caster sugar + extra for sprinkling on top

a pinch of salt

170g cold butter, cut into cubes

7 tbsp cold water

1 egg

(for the plum filling)

5 ripe plums

10g cornstarch

50g solid honey

Method

Start by making the pie dough. In a foodprocessor, blitz flour, sugar and salt. Add cold butter cubes and pulse shortly (do not overmix, just a few seconds will do). Next, add cold water and stir with a wooden spoon just until the dough starts to come together. It’s not necessary to knead the dough, since you don’t want the buttery knobs to melt.

Wrap dough in plastic foil and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C and cover a baking sheet with baking paper. Next, make the pie filling. Cut plums in half and remove the stones. Cut into fine slices, then toss them in a bowl with cornstarch and honey.

On a flour-dusted surface, roll dough out to a large, flat pancake (+/- 2 mm thickness). Using any circular shape, cut out 6 circles.Take a circle, then put one heaping tablespoon of the plum filling in the middle. Pull the edges of the dough towards the middle to enclose the filling. Carefully transfer onto the baking sheet. Repeat this step for the remaining dough.

In a small cup, slightly whisk an egg and brush on top of the dough. Sprinkle with caster sugar or cane sugar to give them some extra crunchiness. Bake for 25 minutes in the oven, or until golden brown & crispy.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of sour cream. Instant gratification guaranteed!